worship
noun
reverent honor and homage paid to God or a sacred personage, or to any object regarded as sacred.
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Worshipp.
worship
American
[wur-ship]
/ ˈwɜr ʃɪp /
noun
-
reverent honor and homage paid to God or a sacred personage, or to any object regarded as sacred.
-
formal or ceremonious rendering of such honor and homage.
They attended worship this morning.
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adoring reverence or regard.
excessive worship of business success.
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the object of adoring reverence or regard.
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(initial capital letter) a title of honor used in addressing or mentioning certain magistrates and others of high rank or station (usually preceded by Your, His, orHer ).
verb (used with object)
-
worships,
present (3rd person singular)
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worshipped,
past, past participle, past (especially British)
-
worshiped,
past participle
-
worshiping,
present participle
-
worshipping
present participle (especially British)
verb (used without object)
-
worships,
present (3rd person singular)
-
worshipped,
past, past participle, past (especially British)
-
worshiped,
past participle
-
worshiping,
present participle
-
worshipping
present participle (especially British)
-
to render religious reverence and homage, as to a deity.
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to attend services of divine worship.
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to feel an adoring reverence or regard.
worship
1
British
/ ˈwɜːʃɪp /
verb
-
(tr) to show profound religious devotion and respect to; adore or venerate (God or any person or thing considered divine)
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(tr) to be devoted to and full of admiration for
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(intr) to have or express feelings of profound adoration
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(intr) to attend services for worship
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obsolete (tr) to honour
noun
-
religious adoration or devotion
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the formal expression of religious adoration; rites, prayers, etc
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admiring love or devotion
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archaic dignity or standing
Worship
2
British
/ ˈwɜːʃɪp /
noun
Usage
What does worship mean? Worship is the honor and reverence given to a god or sacred object, as in The holy men would not allow anyone to interrupt their worship of the gods. Worship can also refer to the formal act or ceremony in which a person gives such reverence, as in The family attended worship yesterday. Worship can be used more generally to refer to passionate adoration or devotion of anything, as in I am sometimes disturbed by the creepy worship of celebrities. As a verb, worship can be used in both the religious sense, as in worshipping nature, or the secular sense, as in worshiping the musician at every concert. In American English, worshiped and worshipping are spelled with only one P, while in British English they are spelled with two P’s (worshipped, worshipping). Self-worship is used to refer to someone who reveres or adores themselves, as in The dozens of flattering self-portraits were just one example of the king’s self-worship. Example: My sister worships her cats and is always buying fancy gifts for them.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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preworshipnoun
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self-worshipnoun
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self-worshipernoun
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self-worshippernoun
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worshipernoun
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worshippernoun
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misworshipverb
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self-worshipingadjective
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self-worshippingadjective
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unworshipedadjective
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unworshipingadjective
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unworshippedadjective
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unworshippingadjective
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worshipableadjective
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worshipinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
worshipsimple
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worshipssimple
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have worshipedperfect
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have worshippedperfect
-
has worshipedperfect
-
has worshippedperfect
-
am worshipingprogressive
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am worshippingprogressive
-
are worshipingprogressive
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are worshippingprogressive
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is worshipingprogressive
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is worshippingprogressive
-
have been worshipingperfect progressive
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have been worshippingperfect progressive
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has been worshipingperfect progressive
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has been worshippingperfect progressive
Past
-
worshippedsimple
-
had worshipedperfect
-
had worshippedperfect
-
was worshipingprogressive
-
was worshippingprogressive
-
were worshipingprogressive
-
were worshippingprogressive
-
had been worshipingperfect progressive
-
had been worshippingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of worship
First recorded before 900; Middle English noun wors(c)hipe, worthssipe, Old English worthscipe, variant of weorthscipe; Middle English verb derivative of the noun; see origin at worth 1, -ship
Explanation
To worship is to show a lot of love and adoration for something. Religious believers worship gods, and people can worship other people and things too. Worship is an extreme form of love — it's a type of unquestioning devotion. If you worship God, then you love God so much that you don't question him at all. Going to church is a form of worship — so is prayer. People also use the word worship in other cases. If you love a musician or sports star, you might say, "I worship her!" Or someone might say to you, "Man, you need to wake up and stop worshiping him."
Vocabulary lists containing worship
It's Lit: Hanukkah Words
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Frindle
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"Ad Power," "Without Commercials," and "What's Wrong with Advertising"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Huanle's mother Wang Cong is a pastor at Zion Church, one of China's largest "underground" churches where some Christians choose to worship instead of government-regulated ones.
From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026
They are evangelists who worship at its Texas toast–padded altar.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026
Its small size suggests it was originally used for private worship.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
Leavitt, by never failing to placate, flatter and worship her boss, has displayed a singular and decisive pathway, although not a very original one, to political success.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
She thought of Dyedka’s Slavist worship, and of Mama's prayers on Shabbat, and wondered what the tsar’s new churches were crowding out.
From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack
The Right to Worship Act would establish a 100-foot zone around a house of worship during services and prohibit conduct that impedes worshipers from attending or disrupts the service inside.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
Worship took different forms for those in the crowds.
From BBC ● Apr. 17, 2026
People pray during the Praise and Worship service.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2023
On Saturday morning, Cramer was joined by two other pastors for the third annual Pride Worship Service.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 14, 2023
“A mistake. The Great Master Hizdahr plays Your Worship for a fool. Do you want a serpent in your bed?”
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
Within a legal profession that venerates judges and worships the Supreme Court, this is borderline heresy.
From Slate ● Jul. 20, 2026
Hundreds of people showed up for a midweek vigil at St. Philip’s in the Hills Episcopal Church, where some of the family worships, a few days after Guthrie disappeared.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 16, 2026
Filipino woman worships green statue for 4 years, finds out it is animated character Shrek.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 12, 2026
Stalter says she is not someone who worships celebrities — “I don’t even know actors’ names sometimes” — but stresses that she is a “mega, mega, mega Lena/’Girls’ fan” and is still processing their collaboration.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2025
“McCoy tried to save her and couldn’t. Now he worships the scoreboard because...why? It killed somebody.”
From "Made You Up" by Francesca Zappia
Of all United's squad, Fernandes is the one worshipped by fans.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
"If someone chants the name of Mother Bonbibi, she will save his life from tigers, snakes, and crocodiles," said villager Ashutosh Mandal, 63, referring to a deity whose idol is worshipped at temples.
From Barron's ● Apr. 28, 2026
They worshipped in a two-bedroom apartment while the group raised money to build a more permanent mosque—a spiritual home that would deepen their roots in their hometown.
From Slate ● Apr. 19, 2026
Despite the abundance of material, it remains difficult to determine exactly which deities were worshipped.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 5, 2026
She, her husband, and their grown children, whom we worshipped, lived a few blocks from us in Providence.
From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
Legend has it that the lion-headed figure protected the country from invasions and was worshiped as a god of war in the ancient Nubian kingdoms of Kush.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
In it, a government scientist discovers that a scaly creature worshiped by island villagers as a sea god has grown to a monstrosity that dwarfs tall buildings.
From Salon ● Mar. 20, 2026
In Fiji, we worshiped with native islanders and ethnic Indians.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 27, 2025
Is it the genre’s front-row seat on the turbulent, provocative, culture-shifting lives of artists we’ve worshiped from afar?
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2025
Most days I worshiped Baba with an intensity approaching the religious.
From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini
Architecture is the most optimistic of art forms, because to create spaces for living and working, for worshiping and governing, is by its nature a positive act.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
“They were standing, worshiping God. Some of them were clapping,” she said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 4, 2026
Society is depicted as "worshiping only power and money, despising art, sensitivity, tenderness, where people ...don't talk anymore."
From Barron's ● Apr. 3, 2026
And a growing number of middle-class African Americans are worshiping in more diverse congregations.
From Slate ● Aug. 30, 2024
Would they be mocked or even punished for worshiping?
From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
If that were an innovative idea, we’d have been worshipping at the heels of last year’s equally topical yet no less trite sci-fi horror “Companion.”
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
Kingsley Femi Fanwo, Kogi State's information commissioner, blamed Sunday's church raid on bandits, and urged isolated places of worship to "reconsider worshipping in crime prone areas for now until the situation gets better".
From Barron's ● Nov. 30, 2025
They added it remained open for visiting and worshipping.
From BBC ● Jan. 13, 2025
He is worshipping her through this act of cooking for her.
From Salon ● Feb. 9, 2024
When he gets close, he bows like he’s worshipping me.
From "On the Come Up" by Angie Thomas
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
